Strengths Finder 2

This study has provoked a lot of conversation between Mandy and I. Here's why: she and I are about as opposite as you can get when it comes to our strengths. As ministry partners, this is awesome, because it means great compatibility. As spouses, it means the same thing, but it is oh so incredibly difficult.

Mandy has the rarest theme in America: discipline. She loves predictability. She is always asking the question "Why?" She is very focused and analytical, and is a super achiever. Me on the other hand: not so much...on any of this. I am just fine flying by the seat of my pants, making changes as I go. I don't like predictability. I prefer adaptability. See the tension!

Through our 11 years of marriage, we have most often seen these major differences as major weaknesses in one another. We certainly have not seen them as strengths. And we certainly have not changed this after a few weeks of conversation. But just realizing there is a a conversation to be had has made a world of difference. I appreciate Mandy's strengths more today than I probably ever have before, and I believe this is going to continue to have a great influence on our marriage!

A Whirlwind of Change

The last few weeks have been full of change for the Grisham family. I began my real estate classes at the beginning of July, and passed my exam a little over a week ago. Some have asked why I'm going into real estate. The answer is that I've actually been in real estate for a few years now. A year after moving to Memphis I started working in the mortgage industry. Unfortunately, just as I was getting going the housing industry was falling apart, so I got out of it. Through that, though, I caught the real estate bug, and I've been dabbling in it since that time. So it just made sense to make it a little more official and go ahead and get licensed. I hope to help my friends (and friends of my friends) buy or sell their homes, but I also plan to get more involved in the investment side of real estate. As soon as all of the paperwork goes through (a week or so), I'll begin working with Revid Realty here in Midtown.

As if that were not enough to write about, here are a few more changes. First, Mandy has gone back to teaching. We were planning on her taking one more year away from the classroom, but a job opened up at Vollentine Elementary School, which is located in the northern part of Midtown. My friend Matthew Watson is helping his church, Living Hope, plant a church in that neighborhood, and they are already official adopters of this school. God has opened several doors that have led us to take this step.

This meant that we had to find a place for Micah. Adam is starting Kindergarten next week (another BIG change), but we now needed daycare for Micah. My mom will be with him one day a week, I'll be with him another, and three days a week he'll be at Union Avenue's daycare, which, if you didn't know, is located one floor down from my office. They gave us an amazing discount, which is the only way we would have been able to enroll him there. Yet another door opened by God.

These are the stories we mustn't forget. We have to tell them to our children. We have to remind them that God is active in our lives, that He has plans for us, and when we are faithful to take them, He guides and directs our steps. After all, He is quite good at opening doors that seem to be closed!

This is a difficult transition for Mandy. She is going to miss being at home with the boys. We know that they are going to do great in school, but it's going to be hard for her. She has also been doing so much with NC and with the Peabody movement. Many of those roles are going to transition to others.

I am definitely a glass half-full kind of guy, but I know that this is going to be tricky in a lot of ways. I know that God is going to help us, and I believe that our times together as a family will be even richer.

Vacation

Mexico was awesome! Celebrating 10 years of marriage with Mandy was awesome! Sitting on a beach for hours at a time, not having to worry about kids or jobs or chores or schedules was awesome! Now, that's the last time I'll use the word "awesome" in this post. Promise.

The resort we were staying at (The NOW Riviera) was so nice (is that word better?). We were there for eight days, and we only left one evening to do some shopping. Here are a few pictures.

I have to say that I'm not used to that many days without work. It took me a couple of days to really unwind, and by the end of the trip I was ready to be home. Note that this primarily had to do with missing Adam and Micah, but I also was ready to get back to work. I was refreshed. I will congratulate myself by saying that not once during our time there did I check email. That's right...not once.

Mandy and I got to go on a lot of dates during our time there. Several of the restaurants were semi-formal. Most nights we got to get all dressed up, walked on the beach to the restaurants, and had such great food with equally great service.

I am thankful for the week away, and am even more thankful to have been able to share it with the woman that I love!

Happy Birthday Mandy!

I suppose this post should have been written yesterday, since that was technically Mandy's birthday (not sure why I just used the word "technically"). But better late than never, right? Actually, I'm glad I waited, because something hit me last night that I'm truly thankful for. Last night three of Mandy's closest friends took her out to eat. She returned home almost three hours later. Now, for me, three hours at a restaurant is not a good night. But for Mandy, it's great.

I've discovered over the last year or so that my wife is a very relational person. I'm not sure why that fact has eluded me over almost 11 years of marriage. I think it's because she hasn't always had this deep a level of community. So I'm thankful that my wife knows how to fill herself up, but I'm even more thankful for the fact that she's in a place to do it!

One more thing I've discovered over the last year or so: my wife is pretty popular. I'm happy about that. She's an awesome lady. But I told her yesterday over lunch that I felt honored that she chose to spend her lunch with me. And I truly was. Happy birthday Mandy!

Merry Christmas!!!

My Pretty Wife's Blog

Did you know that Mandy is blogging? She hasn't been very forthcoming with this news, so I will. That's what husbands are for, right! Last night she posted a 2-part synopsis of the Playback Memphis' new improv "experience" called Memphis Matters. Check it out!

A Mom and Her Boys

Mandy has written some wonderful things about our sons, Adam and Micah.

Wicked

Tonight Mandy and I are going to see Wicked at the Orpheum. We've been looking forward to this for awhile. Actually, it's been six years. Six years ago we had tickets to go see Wicked in San Francisco. It was right after I had graduated from Golden Gate Seminary and we had moved to San Leandro. We were going with our friends Amy and Josh. Earlier that day I started feeling bad. I wasn't sure what it was, but though I was in a bit of pain, I wasn't going to skip going to see Wicked.

That evening Amy and Josh picked us up and we started heading towards San Francisco. On the bay bridge, in normal heavy traffic, the pain in my stomach got worse. I still didn't it was a big deal, though, so we pressed on.

We got our seats (nosebleed I might add), and pretty soon the performance began. The first song wasn't even over, and I had to get up. At this point I thought it was my appendix. After I was gone for 15 or so minutes, Mandy came to find me. We got a cab, and headed to the emergency room. After a catscan, it was determined that I had a kidney stone. A shot of morphine later and I was feeling good. So good, in fact, that I told Mandy that I wanted to name the dog "Morphine." (We got a bichon puppy the next day, and named him Jack, not Morphine).

So here's hoping that this evening is not a repeat of six years ago!

It's been 10 years!

Today Mandy and I celebrate ten years of marriage. Here are a few pics from that blessed day ten years ago.

Some Pics from our Anniversary Party

Anniversary Party

This Friday Mandy and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage!  It's hard to believe that it's been ten years.  We've had our highs and we've had our lows, but thankfully, there have been more highs than lows.  God has blessed us with two wonderful sons, and has placed us in a great neighborhood with great friends.

Earlier this year Mandy had suggested that we celebrate our anniversary by having a concert for our friends.  So every so often we would get out the guitar and play through some of our favorite songs.  As we got closer to the date, we began planning the party.  

We couldn't have picked a better evening for our party.  The weather was wonderful, we had good food and drink, and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves.  I know that for Mandy and I, it was a very special time.

I'll post pictures as soon as I get them from Josh (you reading this?).

A Good Day

Today was a really good day. It was a family day. It was truly Sabbath. This morning I decided to take Mandy and the boys to Victorian Village. I had driven all around this historic part of Memphis but had never driven down Adams Ave. We're going to go again sometime soon and go on a tour.




When we got back I used an emusic coupon to get some new music - 50 new songs to be exact. I love music. Some of my finds: Bon Iver's Blood Bank, Great Big Sea's newest album, some Over the Rhine, a few songs by Adele, some Sufjan Stevens, and some Andy McKee.

After that Dad, Evan and Kelsey came over. Dad and I watched the Tigers beat UTEP. Great game. And it was great to see UNC lose to Maryland in overtime. We also enjoyed a little BBQ from Paynes after the game.

Finally, as if the day couldn't get any better, I introduced Adam to Star Wars tonight. We watched the first hour of Episode IV: A New Hope. Before you get too worried, I fast forwarded several scenes. Right before putting him to bed, I asked him if he liked it. His response: "I love Star Wars." That's my boy! My mom wants me to come by sometime soon and go through my toys, comics and baseball cards in their house. I'm looking forward to showing off my collection of Star Wars toys to Adam.

Oh, one last thing...in addition to being able to say Momma and Dada, Micah can now say Night night.

My new job

One month ago I wrote that I was beginning a new job as a property manager. I had my first client and hoped to add a "few more this fall." Well as of today I am managing thirteen properties. It's cool how God has provided so quickly, but it's also a little overwhelming. I've had a lot to learn in a very short amount of time. I'm still doing mortgages as they come in, but I realized earlier this summer that with the market as it is, I probably could not depend on this as a good source of income, especially with Mandy transitioning out of teaching. By the way, that's going awesome. I am so glad that Mandy is able to stay at home with the boys. I know that it is going to be so good for them, but it's also freeing Mandy up to be creative. She's in the process of forming a parent's network for Cooper-Young. More on that later in a future post.

A new baby

If you haven't heard, Mandy is pregnant! We are expecting our second child at the end of June. Yea!

Mandy

My wife is a remarkable woman. She has spent the last four days potty-training Adam. He's not as far along as we had hoped, but he's making progress. Mandy has been so patient and loving. For the first two days he ran around naked, which he very much enjoyed. He went through four pair of underwear in three hours yesterday. Again, she has been very patient. And right now, as I am writing this, she is on the way to Kroger with six South Korean students here for the Orff conference. She tells me that two speak a bit of English. She was planning on picking three of them up from the airport and bringing them to the University of Memphis. When they arrived on campus, there were three more young ladies, and none of them had any clue how they were going to get food during the weekend. Once again, my lovely wife came to the rescue.

I asked her what I could do for her, and she said, "Let me sleep in tomorrow morning."

Done. I may even make her breakfast in bed!

Happy Valentine's Day

Last night Mandy and I spent our 10th Valentine's Day together. I'm very fortunate to have such a beautiful, loving, caring, understanding, and patient wife! She has put up with a lot living with me for the last seven years (10 years dating). I love you, Mandy!